And I believe fx is another step difficult again from intraday index trading yet newbs and other retail traders attempt it.
Well stated, could not agree more! What feels the best is never going to get you the money, it's about managing discomfort.
I formally qualify since my trading profits are well above cost of living with better than market returns, but I don't consider myself a full time trader. I love trading as an intellectual challenge as well as a way of self-discovery, but don't have a desire to trade whole day. So I confined trading to automated systematic approach. You can call it an automation of day/swing trading, as average hold times are <2 days. Most of my day is busy with building a tech business and self improvement/learning. Weekday - 6am - wake up, listen to audiobooks/learn about something, have coffee. At home, at a nearby island's cafe or during a walk by an ocean 7:30-8am - prep a list of what's important for a day / start business related activities 11:30am - lunch / distractions 12:30pm - continue with business related stuff 3pm - look at model vs live executions trading report and get back to business 4 pm - some sport activity: hit bouldering gym / paddle-board in the ocean / bike to a mountain 6 pm - dinner / family 7 pm - look at generated trading plan for tomorrow 7:05 - 80% of days more business stuff and more reading/learning, <10% meet with a friend or to mentor, 10-20% family 10-11 pm - go to bed Only ones selected in bold are directly related to trading, as well as watching out for alerts from automation (happens ~once in couple of weeks) I read no news. Neither general or trading related. On some Weekends I'll do everything related to trading strategies development or extensive reviews & look at $ account balance. Monthly - Is Model ~= Historical Model? In other words - are models degrading or performing outside of expected parameters. Quarterly - retrospect on adjustments made. +same as monthly on a bigger scale. What I do was inspired by Ed Seykota, William Eckhardt and Marsten Parker. Val
I assume you have a trading account with a US broker? or your European broker routes your orders to US exchanges or ECNs? I think themickey has insider connection with this company
Once you reach a certain level, it becomes very easy almost like printing money. So I say the pain and sweat for a few years to master it is worth it.
Good question. My initial experience (and success) was as a swing trader in stocks. It was only after I decided to get serious about learning trading that I was convinced by someone I perceived to be smarter than me (and successful) to pursue day trading. It turns out he was not successful as a day trader, but that's another story... Mathematically/theoretically, and in practice for a select few, day trading does offer much more points than swing trading. If you compound your account/profits, day trading puts that in turbo-mode. In addition, you'll usually be able to use more leverage intraday, too. However, to become a skilled day trader who's able to extract enough of the daily offer I believe is far harder than becoming a skilled or proficient swing trader. That's why I personally wouldn't recommend anyone to pursue day trading. Personally, my main focus is on day trading, but I have a smaller account too which I use for swing trades. There's no rule against doing both.
%% Good points/profitable points. Market makers/specialists tend to do very well daytrading, so some pull it off very well/ I'm not a market maker. LOL Also as the high % trader Mark Weinstein noted , we can learn a lot about trading @ our bird feeder. Even though zghorner question was most likely about trading stocks, ETFs; markets are markets + any could learn plenty in WMT about trading/investing.[NOT a stock tip/LOL] Something else interesting I learned about Sam Walton/ his wife said ''I am NOT moving to a big city!!'' He learned about quail hunting from his dad-in law.; + made many billions in small towns.
Interesting seeing how other traders trade. I can say with great certainty I would not fare well trying to emulate any of them. You have to develop your own style that fits you.